NEW ORLEANS — Fifteen people are dead in New Orleans after a pickup truck plowed through a crowd on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning.
Authorities said the traffic fatality, which is being treated as a terrorist attack, happened at the corner of Bourbon and Iberville streets around 3:15 a.m. At least 35 people were injured and were brought to area hospitals, the New Orleans Police Department said.
The suspect is believed to be Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, the FBI said. Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas and Army veteran, was killed after police returned fire when he began shooting, the FBI added. An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.
According to the Associated Press, investigators have reviewed video showing three men and a woman placing an improvised explosive device in connection with the car attack that killed at least 10 people in New Orleans’ French Quarter.
That’s according to a Louisiana State Police bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
The revelation could help explain why officials at a Wednesday news conference said that they were aggressively hunting for additional suspects and did not believe the driver of the pickup truck, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone.
“We are aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the subject,” the FBI said in a statement, adding at a news conference with Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Gov. Jeff Landry and other officials that they do not believe he worked alone.
Landry also issued a state of emergency in Orleans Parish, which Landry said will allow for the utilization of all available state resources ahead of Super Bowl LIX and Mardi Gras.
Cantrell said that a fund was set up to assist victims, as well as asking people to stay away from secured areas established to investigate the tragedy.
Landry said that his office intends to be transparent with any defects that may have existed that allowed the suspected attack to happen.
“We have been working very diligently to address security concerns in preparation for the Super Bowl since October,” Landry said.
Landry said he had intended to make a declaration Thursday to bring together law enforcement at the state, local and federal levels to reinforce security ahead of the Super Bowl and other high-traffic events.
NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said that “this man was trying to run over as many people as he could.”
“He was hellbent on creating the carnage and damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said. “This was not a DUI situation.”
Despite ABC News and other outlets reporting 15 deaths, Kirkpatrick said that NOPD could only confirm 10 deaths. Kirkpatrick added that there were several people transported to the hospital that were in critical condition.
FBI agents said that they found potential explosive devices and weapons in Jabbar’s car. Other potential improvised explosive devices were found in the French Quarter. Landry said that the FBI have deemed the area an active crime scene.
She added that a majority of the people injured and killed were locals. ABC News reports that two of the victims were Israeli nationals. A representative of the Israeli Consulate in Houston and the Southwest is “on his way to New Orleans,” at the direction of the Israeli Foreign Minister, a spokesman told ABC.
Families of victims arriving at the University Medical Center are being asked to go to the UMC Conference Center on the 1st Floor, across from Tower 2, which is the midpoint of the hospital.
According to ABC News, the Ford F150 truck used in the attack was a vehicle rented through the Turo app – a carsharing company. Truck owner Rodrigo Diaz told ABC that he rented this truck to an individual through Turo and that he is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further. comment.
His wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News they are devastated.
“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” she said.
According to the New Orleans government, a set of security barriers that were set up in 2017 to prevent terrorist attacks along Bourbon Street were in the midst of being replaced when the incident happened. The project started in mid-December and was expected to last until February.
Cantrell said the barriers were deemed inefficient and the decision was made to make changes to the bollards ahead of the Super Bowl.
“It gave the city of New Orleans the opportunity to further and deeper with infrastructure improvements,” Cantrell said. “Bollards were not up because they are near completion, with the expectation of being completed before the Super Bowl.”
The Sugar Bowl, originally scheduled for Wednesday night in the Caesars Superdome, was postponed 24 hours to Thursday. The Superdome will be locked down and continuously swept by both bomb squads and agents, Kirkpatrick said.
When asked what made him confident the Sugar Bowl would be safe Thursday, Landry responded simply: “I’m gonna be there.”
Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, said that he is heartbroken by the violence that took place on Bourbon Street.
“My heart is with the victims, their families, and everyone who witnessed this horrific attack during what should have been a joyful New Year’s celebration,” Carter said in a statement.
Both the current president and president-elect responded to the tragedy, with the former saying he has been in constant contact with federal law enforcement leadership and homeland security.
“I am grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury. I have directed my team to ensure every resource is available as federal, state, and local law enforcement work assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind. I will continue to receive updates throughout the day, and I will have more to say as we have further information to share. In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” President Joe Biden said. “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
President-elect Trump used his statement to point out that “the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country.”
“That statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!” Trump said.
Baton Rouge Police officers have been sent to New Orleans to assist in the investigation and security in the aftermath of the suspected attack, a spokesperson said.